Humperdinck: Hänsel & Gretel

Angelika Kirchschlager (Hänsel), Diana Damrau (Gretel), Elizabeth Connell (Gertrude), Thomas Allen (Peter), Anja Silja (Die Knusperhexe), Pumeza Matshikiza (Sandmännchen), Anita Watson (Taumännchen)

Tiffin Boys’ Choir and Children’s Chorus & The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Colin...

Humperdinck's adorable opera here receives treatment so affectionate that the two children are more likely to be killed with kindness than by the Witch. The cast is strong, with Angelika Kirchschlager... — BBC Music Magazine, August 2009, 3 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 1st Jun 2009
Catalogue No: OABD7032D
Label: Opus Arte

Humperdinck: Hänsel & Gretel

Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, on 12th and 16th December 2008.
Angelika Kirchschlager (Hänsel), Diana Damrau (Gretel), Elizabeth Connell (Gertrude), Thomas Allen (Peter), Anja Silja (Die Knusperhexe), Pumeza Matshikiza (Sandmännchen), Anita Watson (Taumännchen)
Tiffin Boys’ Choir and Children’s Chorus & The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Colin Davis (conductor) & Moshe Leiser & Patrice Caurier (stage directors)

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Diana Damrau and Angelika Kirchschlager star in the acclaimed 2008 production of Humperdinck’s famous fairytale opera, in the company of two of Britain’s most revered musical figures: Thomas Allen, playing the role of the Father, and the legendary conductor Colin Davis. Directors Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser combine their characteristic wit and a dash of deliciously dark comedy with the opera’s fairytale charm. Humperdinck’s music mixes catchy folk-like songs with sumptuous instrumental colour, making the result as tunefully approachable, musically memorable and visually delightful as opera gets. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in full Surround Sound.

‘Angelika Kirchschlager’s tousled, boyish Hänsel and Diana Damrau’s Gretel are dramatically convincing and vocally superb, while their parents, excellently sung and played by Elizabeth Connell and Thomas Allen, earn our sympathy as well as our censure. Pumeza Matshikiza’s goblin-like Sandman is truly magical and Anita Watson’s feather-dusting Dew Fairy another amusing creation. Colin Davis, unafraid to relish the icing on the cake, draws a warm, effulgent sound from the orchestra.’ Evening Standard

Bonus material:

Illustrated synopsis & animated cast gallery.

Interview with Colin Davis.

Fairytales feature.

Cinema trailer.

PICTURE FORMAT: 1080i
LENGTH: 138 Mins
SOUND: 2.0 & 5.1 PCM
SUBTITLES: EN/FR/DE/ES/IT

Artists

Tiffin Boys’ Choir and Children’s Chorus & The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Colin Davis (conductor) & Moshe Leiser & Patrice Caurier (stage directors)

Reviews

August 2009

Humperdinck's adorable opera here receives treatment so affectionate that the two children are more likely to be killed with kindness than by the Witch. The cast is strong, with Angelika Kirchschlager a much more credible boy than Diana Damrau is a girl... Thomas Allen is a superb Father, and Elizabeth Connell equally good as Mother.

Videos

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Humperdinck: Hänsel & Gretel

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Humperdinck: Hänsel & Gretel

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